Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and giving me an opportunity to provide some clarity and, I hope, some reassurance to women concerned about this issue. Before answering the Deputy’s political charges and questions, I want to reassure the many women who understandably want to know exactly what is going on.

In May, the Minister for Health made the decision to offer free out-of-cycle smear tests to women who were concerned about their health following issues which had emerged regarding the CervicalCheck controversy. This decision was made in good faith to address the considerable fears of many anxious women throughout the country. The Government’s approach has always been to seek to provide reassurance to women and to be fully transparent about that. This clearly heightened concern and awareness around CervicalCheck, and the offer of free out-of-cycle smear tests has contributed to capacity issues - it is not a resource issue - resulting in the emergence of a backlog. We know that because it has been raised multiple times in the House.

The new issue which has arisen is separate to that backlog. It is entirely inaccurate to claim that the repeat smears which women were offered have expired. The new issue is separate to this and relates to one company only of the three involved in providing screening services. Quest Diagnostics has advised CervicalCheck of a specific problem with standard human papillomavirus, HPV, tests which have been carried out outside of the manufacturer's recommended timeframe since secondary HPV screening was introduced. The HSE's clinical review has assured women that this poses very little risk to women's health. Evidence shows that HPV tests of this kind are effective outside of manufacturers’ recommended timeframes.

However, as a precaution, the HSE will be writing to women to attend their GPs for repeat smear tests to confirm the results and to provide them with the reassurance to which they are entitled. The HSE expects up to 6,000 women are likely to be recalled for a repeat smear. These tests will be processed by the laboratory as a priority.

Regardless of the politics of this issue, all in this House have an obligation to reassure women and give accurate information on what is being discussed and how we are going to solve it. Priority number one is to reassure people. The Minister for Health is not available next week but is happy to come into the House the following week to take questions and to give a detailed statement to respond to any of the queries which the Deputy may have.

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